A recent letter to the editor printed in the Edmond Sun newspaper drew a succinct response from Oklahoma’s top agriculture official. Terry Peach, Secretary of Agriculture responded with the following reply.

(Here is a link to the letter Secretary Peach was responding to.) This exact letter, word for word, was printed in several daily newspapers across the nation and attributed to different authors in each case.

Editor:

Last week’s letter to the editor promoting a vegan diet and blaming animal agriculture for the H1N1 influenza virus, multiple human health issues, and environmental problems was misleading and filled with falsehoods. It was, in fact, a widely circulated letter by a group promoting a vegan diet.

Lean protein foods including meat, poultry and dairy products are all a part of a well balanced diet according to credible organizations and agencies such as the American Dietetic Association, American Heart Association and the United States Department of Agriculture. These are the type of unbiased, science based sources America should look to for dietary advice as opposed to emotion based fringe groups.

As for animal agriculture being environmentally unsound, that is simply not true. Eighty Five percent of U.S. grazing land is unsuitable for producing crops, therefore grazing animals more than doubles the area which is used to produce food.

EPA data shows all agriculture, from beef production to broccoli production, contributes just 6.4 percent to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. All livestock combined contributes less than 2.6 percent to total greenhouse gas emissions.

Finally, it has been conclusively proven that the H1N1 influenza virus referred to in the letter has nothing to do with swine or pork. The unfortunate misnaming of the virus earlier this year has done great harm to our nation’s pork producers.

Oklahoma farmers and ranchers also have the distinction of being recognized nationally as superior environmental stewards. There is no better group of people to entrust with the care of our natural resources and there are no healthier foods than those we raise here in Oklahoma.

Terry L. Peach
Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture